Chevron pays fine for oil spill in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro: US oil supermajor Chevron Corp. said it has paid the 35.1 million reais (USD 17 million) fine imposed by Brazil's ANP regulator for an oil spill last November.

The company said in a statement Thursday that it made the payment Sep 21 without lodging an appeal.

The fine corresponded to 24 of the 25 infractions that the regulator found at the Frade field, where 3,700 barrels of crude were spilled at a spot some 120 km off the coast of the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro.

The oil seeped through cracks in the ocean floor near Chevron's drilling operations due to miscalculations by the company, the ANP report said.

The ANP still could levy an additional 2 million reais (USD 985,000) fine for the last of the 25 infractions, which was related to the well-abandonment process.

Separately, a Rio de Janeiro court ordered Chevron and drilling partner Transocean to abandon all operations in Brazil as a consequence of the spill.

Transocean said Thursday in a statement that it was served notice of the preliminary injunction, which gives the company 30 days to halt operations in Brazil.

The Switzerland-based company, which has nine drilling rigs in Brazil, most at fields operated by Brazilian state oil firm Petrobras, said it was "vigorously pursuing the overturn or suspension of the preliminary injunction".

Petrobras said last month that it would legally support both companies' efforts to have the ban overturned.